Calvary Cemetery in Brockton is awash in US flags, placed on the graves of 1,600 veterans by members of VFW Post 1046.
“Memorial Day means so much to us here,” said Jim Doherty, 65, the post commander and a Vietnam veteran.
“Probably most of the guys here have combat brothers, or fathers and mothers, who served and have passed.”
The springtime ritual of decorating the graves unites generations of veterans who belong to the 287-member post in east Brockton.
“It’s an honor to place an American flag on their grave,” said Brandon Doherty, 27, Jim’s son and a Marine veteran who served in the war against terrorism.
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He plans his own personal remembrance of Marine Sergeant Daniel Vasellian, a friend from Abington High School, who died in combat in Afghanistan in 2013.
The post’s color guard and honor guard on Monday will march in the city’s Memorial Day parade, which starts at 10 a.m. at the War Memorial Building on West Elm Street.
Afterward, Veterans of Foreign Wars members will gather at the post for pizza and subs, Jim Doherty said.
“Usually, a few people talk, too,” said Doherty, who lives in Holbrook.
Memorial Day this year is especially notable for Vietnam veterans, falling just after the 40th anniversary of the war’s end.
Jim Doherty said he will never forget his 12 comrades from the Army’s 101st Airborne Division who were killed in action in April and May of 1970.
“I knew every one of them,” Doherty said quietly, looking at their names traced in pencil etched onto a plaque hanging inside the post. “I flew with every one of them.”
Doherty enlisted in the Army in August 1969, two years after graduating from Holbrook High School. A Bronze Star recipient, he held the rank of Army Specialist 4.
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He logged 800 combat hours serving as a crew chief/door gunner on board a Chinook helicopter.
“I saw a lot of action in the sky,” Doherty said in a quiet voice. “I got shot at a lot. I shot back a lot.”
Like so many other Vietnam veterans, Doherty returned home to a public angry about the war.
“Most people weren’t very appreciative,” said Doherty, now a retired salesman for an info-tech company.
“At that time, you really didn’t tell too many people that you were a ’Nam vet.”
Memorial Day then was a time for personal reflection.
“I used to always try to make my way to a cemetery. I’d walk around and observe the vets’ graves and kind of say a quiet prayer,” he said.
It would be 30 years before Doherty would join the VFW. Now the former crew chief is the commander. His new mission is to welcome veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan into the post.
“I don’t want to see any veteran come home and be treated the way we were,” Doherty said. “We welcome them, and will treat them with respect. They served their country.”
Kathy McCabe can be reached at katherine.mccabe-@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKMcCabe.